Elizabethan Spice Beef question

[Hifonics]

For as long as I can remember my mum has made this recipe every Christmas as it lasts well into the new year

I cant find the recipe right now but have found an approximation online:

Ingredients:

6 lbs joint of beef
3 ounces light brown sugar
1 ounce black peppercorns
1 ounce juniper berries
1 ounce allspice berry
4 ounces sea salt
1/4 ounce saltpeter

Method:

1. Rub the meat all over with the sugar and put it in a pot with a lid for 2 days. Leave it in a cool place, turning and rubbing the meat occasionally with the sticky liquor that develops.
2. Crush the peppercorns, juniper and allspice with a pestle and mortar and mix with the salt and saltpeter.
3. Rub this mixture well into the meat and leave it in the pot for a further 9 days. Turn the meat and rub the pickling mixture into the flesh daily.
4. When the pickling is complete, remove the beef and rub off any excess spices adhering to the surface. Do not rinse it.
5. Wrap the meat in cooking foil [the Victorians used suet] and put into a large ovenproof pot. Add about 10 fl oz water, cover the pot with a double layer of foil and fit the lid on tightly.
6. Preheat the oven to 275 deg F.
7. Bake the meat slowly allowing 45 min per lb.
8. When the meat is cooked, remove the pot and set aside until it is quite cold.
9. Unwrap the meat, drain off any excess liquid and place on a board.
10. Cover with foil, put a weight on it and leave for at least 24 hr.
11. Carve the meat into thin slices and serve.

Now the question, for maybe 15 years we have ommited the saltpetre but now having read up Botulism I am keen to start using it again as this is quite a long cure. I would like to use all purpose curing salt to make things easier but would it be suitable for this recipe or am I better off mixing my own saltpetre with some quality sea salt?

[DiggingDogFarm]

I use Cure #1 (6.25% nitrite), in the recommended amount, instead of saltpeter.

Here's the spiced beef recipe I use, it looks to be nearly the same.....

Ballymaloe Spiced Beef

Serves 12–16
1.8kg (4lb) lean flank of beef
225g (8oz) Demerara sugar
350g (12oz) salt
10g (1⁄2 oz) saltpetre (potassium nitrate)
75g (3oz) whole black pepper
75g (3oz) whole allspice (pimento, Jamaica pepper)
75g (3oz) whole juniper berries
Grind all the spice ingredients (preferably in a food-processor) until
fairly fine.
Remove the bones from the flank and trim away any unnecessary fat. Rub
a little spice well over the surface of the beef and into every
crevice. Put into an earthenware dish and leave in a fridge or cold
larder for 3–7 days, turning occasionally. (This is a dry spice, but
after a day or two some liquid will come out of the meat.) The longer
the meat is left in the spice, the more spicy the flavour and the
longer it will last.
Just before cooking, remove the spiced beef from the earthenware dish.
The salt and sugar will have extracted some liquid. Discard this spice
mixture. Roll and tie the joint neatly with cotton string into a
compact shape. Put it into a deep saucepan, cover generously with cold
water, bring to the boil and simmer for 3–4 hours or until soft and
fully cooked. If it is not to be eaten hot, then press the meat by
putting it on a flat tin or into an appropriate sized bread tin and
covering with a board and weight. Leave it for 12 hours in a fridge or
cold larder. Spiced beef will keep for 3–4 weeks in a fridge.


HTH

~Martin

[BriCan]

I would like to use all purpose curing salt to make things easier but would it be suitable for this recipe

The answer is yes.

I use it all the time. There will be a slight difference between what I use and the all purpose curing salt in the UK

[Hifonics]

As no one seems to know the percentages of KN03 in the curing salt I was just worried about not having enough or way too much

[BriCan]

As no one seems to know the percentages of KN03 in the curing salt I was just worried about not having enough or way too much

I think Wheels might be able to help on that, in the meantime this is what I use in Canada

[wheels]

The curing salt (cure #1) from the forum shop has 6% Sodium Nitrite.

Phil

[Hifonics]

Thanks for that, I missed the cure 1 and cure 2 and was looking at the all purpose curing salt. The recipe I pasted looks to be about 6% saltpetre, does that translate to using 100g of Cure 1 as a replacment for 100g of sea salt and saltpetre? Just worried about either poisoning myself or ruining the meat

[wheels]

The level of cure in your recipe would never be sanctioned nowadays - it equates to 2500 parts per million potassium nitrate; the current EU level is 150!

If you use Cure #1, about 2.5gm per kg is a good guide. At this level your recipe uses about 7gm.

HTH

Phil